Water Zoo
by LordByronMudkippington
Summary: Maki takes Nozomi to the aquarium (aka the water zoo), because she knows Nozomi likes that kinda thing. She isn't all that interested in it, but she'd do anything to make Nozomi smile. [Art by Nyet-Nyet.]


Maki wasn't a big fan of the zoo. No matter how many times Nozomi tried to differentiate the two - "It's not a zoo, Maki-chan: it's an aquarium!" - she wouldn't budge. Aquariums were just water zoos, and they were boring. Nature documentaries were cool: the animals on those shows usually ran around and did exciting things. Here, all they did was lie around and do nothing.

"Isn't there supposed to be an octopus here?" She leaned forward until her nose was nearly against the glass, looking left and right, up and down, but there didn't seem to be anything in the tank. Frowning, she tapped her index finger on the glass, but felt her hand being pulled back right after.

"Maki-chan, don't disturb the little guy!" Nozomi scolded, letting go of Maki's hand. "It's against aquarium rules to touch the glass."

"Since when did you care about the rules?" Maki rolled her eyes, but she didn't try to touch the glass again. "Besides, I paid good money for these tickets. Don't we deserve to see everything they have to offer?"

"These creatures have autonomy, Maki-chan. We can't just expect them to do what we want on command."

"I pay my taxes and this is what I get..." Grumbling, Maki gave up and followed Nozomi further into the aquarium. She didn't even pay her own taxes: her parents did. It was the principle of things, though. Did she even really care about the octopus? After all, she hadn't even wanted to go. Nozomi was really looking forward to it though, and she had done worse things just to see her girlfriend smile.

The next section of the aquarium had a rainforest theme, and Nozomi was instantly drawn to the snakes, especially a huge reticulated python. Maki shuddered, not wanting anything to do with those slithering creatures. She'd seen that zoo scene in Harry Potter, and she wasn't taking any chances.

Instead, she stood in front of a brightly-colored parrot. The sign said it was a macaw, but she didn't think anyone would be mad if she called it a parrot. Well, except for Kotori. They had all learned that she was very strict about calling birds by their proper names. Poor Rin hadn't stood a chance.

The parrot seemed so sad though. Maki wasn't an expert on animals, but it definitely seemed unhappy about something. She kept staring at it, unaware that Nozomi was sneaking up behind her.

"Ah!" She yelped as a pair of hands grabbed her chest, her surprised exclamation not even getting a reaction from the despondent macaw. Twisting out from the grasp, she whirled around to find Nozomi grinning at her. "N-Nozomi! What was that for?!"

"Ehehe, I couldn't resist." She leaned in and gave Maki a quick kiss on the lips, which never failed to calm her flustered partner down. Smiling at Maki's adorable pout, she moved to stand next to her. "I didn't know you were into birds, Maki-chan."

"It's not that. This parrot just seems so... sad."

"Hmm... Maybe it's because it's caged up instead of being able to fly freely." Nozomi tapped her chin in thought, then looked up at Maki with a smile. "It actually reminds me of you."

"E-Eh?! Me?" Maki blinked in confusion, tilting her head slightly. "Why?"

"Well, you're both red..." For emphasis, Nozomi ran her fingers through Maki's crimson locks. "... and you both have the same downcast look all the time."

"Th-That's not true!" Maki tried to look at her expression in the glass, but the lights weren't bright enough to see it. She quickly put on what she assumed to be her best smile and faced Nozomi again. "See? I'm smiling."

"You look like a serial killer." The smile immediately dropped as Nozomi laughed, pulling Maki into a tight hug. "Aww, but you're my serial killer, baby." That made her feel a little bit better.

* * *

They ended up walking hand in hand towards the end of the small - for an aquarium, that is - building, where Maki was surprised to find an enclosure with an animal that certainly was not an aquatic creature. "White tigers? What in the world?"

"Aww, he's adorable!" Nozomi had to restrain herself from throwing herself against the glass. White tigers were so cute though, and rare at that. They were truly a sight to behold. "Look, Maki-chan, he's yawning! Aren't they just adorable?"

"Uh, yeah, they are." Well, they were. She was still trying to understand why there were tigers at an aquarium, but this honestly was the most interesting thing they'd seen so far. Standing next to Nozomi, she found her attention drawn away from the tigers and towards her girlfriend.

The smile on Nozomi's face was so sincere. Not that Maki assumed that every smile was fake, but there was something different about it now. It was almost childlike in nature. Somehow that seemed to suit Nozomi just as well as any other look. She couldn't help but smile as well, a genuine smile at that. That was worth any amount of money.

Eventually Nozomi decided to sit down, so the two of them sat side by side, watching the tigers do virtually nothing. It was still boring to Maki, but she wasn't going to be the one to tell Nozomi they should leave. At least, not yet. Nozomi seemed content laying her head on Maki's shoulder, staring at the tigers with half-lidded eyes. Maki slowly ran her fingers through Nozomi's hair, enjoying the silent comfort of being so close to the one she loved.

A few kids ran by, pushing up against the glass and staring in awe at the tigers. She knew Nozomi wouldn't like that, but it wasn't like her to go up and scold other peoples' kids. True to form, Nozomi frowned at the sight, but didn't feel comfortable scolding random kids. Instead she curled up closer to Maki, pouting slightly. "It's so rude," she whispered.

"Yeah," Maki muttered back, pretending not to remember her own touching of the glass. "How about we keep going? There's still one other thing we can do." Nozomi perked up at that, her smile returning as she nodded eagerly. The two of them stood together, with Maki grabbing onto Nozomi's hand as they said goodbye to the tigers.

"I'll never forget you, Nero!" Nozomi called as they departed. Nero just yawned.

* * *

The final part of the aquarium involved a pool full of stingrays. As long as you washed your hands - and paid for the ticket, of course - you could go in and touch them. Maki had a feeling that Nozomi would enjoy it, a feeling that was proven right as soon as they washed their hands and Nozomi made a beeline for the edge of the pool.

Maki walked over at a slower pace, taking care not to slip on the wet floor. She gently placed her hands on the ledge, feeling her skin growing wet so soon after drying it off. In the pool, what seemed like dozens of stingrays swam to and fro in a hypnotic pattern.

One of the stingrays swam over to the side and pushed itself out of the water, bobbing up and down right in front of Nozomi, who squealed in delight. "Oooh, it's saying hi! How sweet!" She reached down and gently ran two fingers across the top of its body before it dipped back into the water and swam away. "I think it likes me."

"How can you tell?" For the life of her, she couldn't tell what kind of emotion these creatures had. They could be plotting revenge on the surface dwellers for all she knew. Still, she paid to touch stingrays, so by the Gods she was going to do it.

Another stingray came gliding by, one of its fins skimming the surface. Now that looked more like saying hi. Reaching in, she held her fingers out until they came in contact with the fin, like she was giving it a high five. The thought made her laugh, until she noticed Nozomi staring at her. "Wh-What?"

"You're only supposed to use two fingers, Maki-chan." Maki looked down at her three extended fingers.

"So? Is one extra finger going to make them explode or something?"

"Maki-chan..."

"Ahh, alright, fine." Grumbling some more, she made sure that the next stingray she touched was with two fingers. "They're really slimy."

"I like it." Nozomi seemed insistent on trying to pet every stingray in the pool, though it'd be easier to just pretend she did. Many of them looked the exact same. Maki certainly couldn't tell the difference.

Besides the fact that they were sticking their hands into a pool of water, things had been kept mostly dry. That is, until a huge stingray - easily the biggest of them all - jumped up from the water and started splashing around. Both Maki and Nozomi yelped and jumped back from the pool, water splashing on their clothes and exposed arms.

Nozomi seemed to take it all in stride, laughing at what had happened. Maki, meanwhile, growled crossly as she tried to wipe all the excess water off of her arms, looking down and frowning at her now-wet clothes. "Okay, that was totally uncalled for."

"Your clothes are barely even wet, Maki-chan." Nozomi leaned in, grinning. "You see? This is what happens when you don't obey the rules. You'd better use two fingers next time."

"Are you serious right now?"

* * *

They spent no less than an hour in there just petting the stingrays, though it didn't take long for Maki to just stand around and watch Nozomi get splashed instead. She seemed to be enjoying herself a lot, and it made Maki happy to just watch her. By the end though, she had been dragged right back to the ledge by Nozomi, and she ended up petting more stingrays, growing to kind of enjoy their slimy selves. She made sure to use two fingers, but she still got splashed again anyway. So rude.

Luckily, they dried off rather quickly by the time they finished going through the gift shop. As they stood outside, Nozomi was looking at Maki curiously. "Maki-chan, are you hiding something behind your back?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"Because your hands are behind your back." Oh right. Maki laughed sheepishly as she slowly put her hands back into view, a small plush white tiger being revealed.

"I-I was going to surprise you, but... th-this is for you." She quickly shoved it into Nozomi's hand, her cheeks starting to turn red. Nozomi stared at the plush in surprise for a moment, then a big smile quickly spread on her face.

"Aww, he's so cute! Thank you, Maki-chan!" Nozomi yanked Maki forward by her shirt collar, pulling her into a long, loving kiss. Maki's surprised yelp was cut off by Nozomi's lips, and it didn't long for her to melt into the kiss. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Nozomi's waist, locking lips with her love until they both had to pull away for a breath.

"I have something for you too, Maki-chan." Nozomi reached into her shirt and pulled out a plush parrot, grinning as she held it up for Maki. When had she even bought that? They'd both been together in the gift shop the entire time. At least the hiding place wasn't unusual: Maki had gotten lost in there a few times herself. "Here you go!"

"Thanks, but why a parrot?" She took it and looked it over, touching the red fluff. It was pretty cute, she had to admit.

"Remember the macaw? It's your spirit animal." Maki immediately frowned, getting a laugh from Nozomi. "You both have the same expression!"

"This plush doesn't even have an expression." Sulking, Maki folded her arms and stared at her feet. "But... thanks, Nozomi." A hand tilted her chin up, and she found herself looking directly at Nozomi, whose smile was back to a simple warmth.

"I love you, Maki-chan." Having that said to her so suddenly caused Maki to go even redder, but she was smiling too, leaning slightly against Nozomi.

"I love you too, Nozomi." She took Nozomi's hand in her own and held it as they headed towards the parking lot.

"You know, Maki-chan, now that we're out of the aquarium, we're allowed to do flash photography."

"Uh, I guess? But it's the middle of the day. We don't need any more li- Oh Gods, Nozomi! Don't pull your shirt up!"

"Aww, don't you wanna take a picture?"

"L-Later!"

* * *

 **Alternate Happening:**

"So, you... really like that snake, huh?"

"Yup! It's so adorable, don't you think?" She certainly did _not_ think it was adorable. Honestly, snakes gave Maki the creeps. Still, if a snake would make Nozomi happy, then that was good enough for her.

Maki looked around until she found one of the aquarium employees and went up to them. "Excuse me sir, but I have a question about the snakes."

"Sure!" The employee smiled at her. "What would you like to know?"

"How much for the python?"

"E-Excuse me?"

"I can pay you in cash."

"Maki-chan, you can't just buy the aquarium animals!"


End file.
